For every problem there is a cure.    Even better… that cure is usually nearby.

Mother Nature almost always has a solution for things that can irritate us without or within. Take, as an example, nature at our North Carolina farm.   Poison oak and ivy grows there.

However the farm also has a generous supply of Jewelweed, an effective natural herbal remedy for poison ivy, poison oak, okra spines, stinging nettle, and other irritating plants; as well as bug bites and razor burn.   Jewel Weed, is a good remedy for acne, heat rash, ringworm and many other skin disorders.

Jewelweed totally neutralizes the poison plant’s oily antigen called Urushiol.

Jewelweed is a member of the impatiens family and grows right next to poison ivy and poison oak.

The Crushed stems and leaves of this purple-spotted orange inch long flower rubbed on the contact point stops or reduces the rash especially if applied quickly.

Research at Rutgers University shows that a Jewelweed chemical “Lawsone” binds at a  molecular level with the poison oil (Urushiol) that attacks the skin. Lawsone cancels Urushiol so there is no rash. Broadleaf Plantain

Our farm, thankfully, still has plenty of bees.   This fact brings the occasional bee sting.  Plantain, an edible plant, grows in abundance there.  If chewed or crushed well and rubbed into the sting for several minutes it is an antidote.

Essential oils are the refined intelligence of plants.

Shamans and many natural healers believe that aromatic plant essential oils are helpful in healing because the fragrances and chemistry reflect the plant’s true inner nature. Throughout history, the oils have been used for healing and are still key elements of many of the world’s non-Western healing traditions.

Essential oils are a concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. An oil is “essential” in the sense that it carries a distinctive scent, or essence and chemistry.

The fastest way to get any information into the body is via the lungs and skin. Thus essential oils carry data directly to the physical chemistry.

Essential oils can help the learning process.

Smells can trigger vivid memories, involving sights, sounds and emotional impressions of events in our distant past. A whiff of oatmeal cookies evokes in-depth childhood memories of a good time and warm kitchen.  In addition to such memories, smells can initiate a cascade of physiological responses affecting our entire body and mental outlook.

When you learn something while in a certain state, it’s easier to recall the information later while you’re in the same state. For example if you study for a test while drunk, chances are you’ll do better on the exam if you take it while in the same state of inebriation.

We teach how to use essential oils in our Super Spanish course, using a specific essential oil to aid Spanish recollection.  Essential oils work best because they are pure and do not change… so the body gets the same aromatic message each time.

Here is the Shamana de Zuleta preparing to use the frequency of tobacco smoke and aqua flora in a cleansing ceremony. She uses these frequencies to balance subtle human frequencies. Every part of our being, (mind, body and soul if you wish) hums at a frequency. When all parts of our body are humming at a correct frequency and these frequencies are connected (and in tune) we are at ease and in good health.

When any part of us hums at the wrong frequency or is disconnected from the whole, we have dis-ease.

Cotacachi shamans infuse the essence, (frequency or vibratory energy) of different aspects of life (derived from plants), in water, alcohol or oil.

The fastest way to absorb healing energy is, as mentioned, through the skin and lungs. The shamans use mists and oils to impart these frequencies to counterbalance physical and or emotional imbalances that create dis-ease. Cotacachi shamanic purifications do not wash away impurities as much as they balance misaligned frequencies so they once again hum as they should.

Essential oils hold the energy better than water and though each (mists and oils) have a purpose (a mist is essentially a diluted essential oil) the root of aqua flora is essential oil. Therefore the Cotacachi yatchaks, shamans and curanderos revere good, pure essential oils.

Often they mix essential oils with alcohol to balance subtle levels of human frequency. They deliver the frequency with an explosive mist, spitting the essential oil through a flame. Here is a shaman performing this ceremony at one of our previous Cotacachi shamanic mingos. Merri and I use pure, essential oils daily and buy them from our friend, Candace Newman, the oil lady, for our own use. We also give them as shamanic gifts when we are in Cotacachi…or anywhere with shamans. They are always enormously grateful at receiving pure, essential oils. They call them gifts from the forces of nature.

We have known Candace for almost 30 years and began using her oils when the shamans of Cotacachi taught us how they work.

Merri and I lived and studied with the yatchaks and shamans for years to better understand how they live and heal. Candace joined us at our North Carolina farm and our 926 acre Andean Hacienda Rosaspamba where we lived with a taita yatchak and his apprentices. She also trained with the yatchaks throughout Ecuador and Peru.

I asked Candace to write some articles about the wisdom she gained form the yatchaks about essential oil. Here is one of the ideas she has shared:

Pure Lavender Essential Oil in Ecuador

Ever since I traveled to England to learn about essential oils in the early 1990’s, I have kept a little bottle of Lavender in my bag wherever I go. My trips to Ecuador and Peru were just another example of how life is better with Lavender…and traveling without essential oils, is like traveling without your toothbrush. I don’t spend lots of time packing clothes….but I do spend time packing my essential oils.

Pure Lavender Essential Oil (Lavandula officinalis from Bulgaria) is a high grade medicinal quality essential oil. Its natural chemistry makes it anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-bacterial. It’s the #1 stress reliever and sleep aid. The natural chemical constituents are known to balance the central nervous system. If you are down, it will bring you up…and if you are too anxious, it will calm you down.

I call Lavender ‘the River of Peace’. It is from the Latin word LAVARE which means TO WASH. The aroma washes our emotions and the medicinal liquid washes and soothes the skin. The essential oil is steam-distilled from the flowers. It is very strong and very concentrated.

On my trips to Ecuador and Peru, Lavender was either in my fanny-pak or my traveler’s vest pocket. Just inhaling it on the airplanes, cars and buses when my energy was low … made me and others feel better.

Many of the days I had a cotton ball charged with just one drop of Lavender in my pocket as a diffuser. I also gave a ‘cotton ball of Lavender’ to one lady who was feeling fearful on the cliff-hanging road up to Rosaspamba outside Quito.

Lavender is the first choice for nervousness; Peppermint is the first choice for motion sickness. Another time one lady was feeling weak from hypoglycemia, so breathing the Lavender as we headed for lunch helped bring her back to a better state of balance.

In my month at Rosaspamba, I was up one morning before dawn with two of the Yachak’s apprentices and we were going to hike down the road to a waterfall for a ceremony and ‘shower’. It was cold, dark, and wet. The clouds of fog were very thick. One apprentice slipped on the wooden steps coming out of the hacienda and slammed her shin on the step. I could see by her face that she was in real pain, but was covering it up. I had my flashlight and asked her if I could see it. The skin was broken and a huge bump was forming.

With her glad permission, I put a couple of drops of straight Lavender on the area to cut down the inflammation and pain. We made our journey to the waterfall….did the Lavender and cold water treatment there…journeyed back…and did the Lavender treatment again. The wide-eyed amazement and smile on her face was delightful to see!

An additional great source of comfort was the 1-2 drops of Lavender on a cotton ball that went in my pillow at night in my funny little bed at Rosaspamba. It certainly helps tuck you in at night and promote a good night’s sleep.

Another time we went into a little village outside Quito on the bus (I really don’t know WHERE we were) and walked across fences and pig farms to visit 2 older Ecuadorian women. One of the Yachak’s apprentices rented a room here sometimes. One of the women was in bed and quite weak with pain in her face from cancer. With her permission, I sat on her bed and made a blend in my palm with some Organic Golden Jojoba and a drop of Lavender.

I very gently rubbed this on her face. She looked up at me with a twinkle in her eyes and our glance said it all. Wecouldn’t speak each other’s language…and if we could, it would have ruined the silent language our hearts were speaking.

‘Lavender to the rescue’ again on the climb up Waynu Picchu above Machu Picchu. I was not feeling well, and my day’s nutrition was honey and water. About ¼ of the way up the mountain I passed out cold on the path. Then awakened with wonderful energy to finish the trek. When I got back to the bottom, inhalations of Lavender helped me get grounded again, and feel balanced.

There are many reasons why Lavender is the #1 essential oil to have in your ‘medicine chest’ no matter where you are. There are well over 400 essential oils, and Lavender is the most versatile and useful. The comfort and balance it brings to our emotional state is well documented … as is the relief from aches and pains due to its anti-inflammatory natural medicine.

For rubbing it on large areas, combine it with a base oil. For spot work, like a burn or cut….use one drop straight. Inhalation is reason enough just to have it with you. You…or someone close by….is bound to need some! What a powerful, yet simple medicinal remedy this is. Happy Trails…..with Lavender!  Candace Newman.

Essential Oils Can Help the Emotional Process

This message features Candace’s Scar & Bruise oil because we bandage and care for bruise and abrasions to our skin but too often ignore the bruises to our emotions.

Pure Essential Oils: Lavender, Helichrysum, Rose otto, Myrrh based in Organic Golden Jojoba & vitamin E.

This formula was first created in 1993 for major abdominal surgery and a 6 inch scar.   It has gone on to be great aid for face surgery, breast, open heart and knee replacement surgeries… as well as small cuts and bruises.  It can be used for months with old scars and bruises and also used on thin, damaged, sensitive skin situations.

Candace wrote: Gary the Scar & Bruise oil helped one client so much with bad scaring and the emotional trauma that went with it, that she used to drive from Cape Coral to our old shop in Naples to see us and get her oils. Then she went on to study aromatherapy and incorporated it into her work. Thanks for offering this to your clients.

In addition the aromas are soothing to the emotional state and calming to the mind.   See how each of the oils in the Scar & Bruise blend help our inner as well as outer  state.

Rose Otto is a relaxant.  It is anti-infectious, anti-inflammatory, antihemmorrhaging, antiulcer and scar reducing

Rose Otto Essential Oil is used to reduce anxiety and hypertension as well as  herpes, eczema, scaring, wrinkles, restores moisture balance for all skin types.

The aromatic impact of Rose Otto’s aroma is uplifting and stimulating to the mind.

Rose Otto has been used for emotional balance as far back as during the times of the Pharaohs as it help release fear and to become “whole” and balanced.

Helichrysum Oil is a nervine oil that tends to soothe nervous excitement.  It helps keep the nervous system in order, strengthens it and protects it from disorders.

Helichrysum is an extremely rare European herb native mainly to France and Italy. and a few neighboring countries.

This essential oil has a whole range of remarkable medicinal properties including  Anti Allergenic – Anti Septic – Cicatrisant and Fungicidal.  These properties help heal wounds and cuts and help scars disappear.

It is also an emollient that makes the skin smooth, soft and moist to prevent dehydration and cracking of the skin.

Myrrh Essential Oil  is anti microbial, astringent, anti fungal, stimulant, carminative, antiseptic so helps the skin.

The essential oil of Myrrh is extracted from the resin of a small thorny tree native to  Egypt.

Myrrh oil is a stimulant that stimulates thoughts, blood circulation, digestion, secretions and nerves.  It stimulates blood circulation and helps get a proper supply of oxygen to the tissues.

This oil is also a sedative, anti depressant and promotes balanced spiritual feelings.

Lavender essential oil is extracted mostly from the flowers of lavender plant and helps remove nervous tension as well as disinfects the skin.

Some of the health benefits of lavender essential oil include calming the nervous system relieving anxiety, depression, nervous tension and emotional stress. The oil helps remove nervous exhaustion and restlessness and increases mental activity.

Lavender essential oil also helps sleep and is often used to reduce insomnia.

It is also known to lower blood pressure and is used for hypertension.

All four of these oils are in the Scar & Bruise blend so  their  qualities help maintain an outer skin balance and an emotional balance within.
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